Record catch: 70 kg of heroin found in fishing net off Kagoshima

70 kilograms of heroin was found caught in a fishing net off the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture last month (TBS News)

KAGOSHIMA (TR) – Japan Coast Guard officials and Kagoshima Prefectural Police on Tuesday confirmed that the more than 70 kilograms of heroin found snagged in a fishing net off the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture last month is a domestic record, reports NHK (July 19).

On June 26, a fishing boat found five large bags containing 70.3 kilograms of heroin caught in the net off the coast of the town of Yakushima, the coast guard said.

The heroin was found in 200 small packages that were packed inside the bags. The contraband has a street value of about 2.1 billion yen.

The seizure is the biggest ever recorded by weight in Japan. The previous record was 20.1 kilograms seized from a passenger arriving on a flight from Thailand in 1993.

Authorities suspect that the heroin is connected to a smuggling ring involving organized crime.